Theatre History 2700 Midterm

Front 1

What are the 2 Essential features that constitute what we call Theatre?

Back 1

Live Performance and Live Audience

Front 2

What are Frequently Recurring features (other then the 2 essential)?

Back 2

Visual Components, Aural Components, Pysical Gesture, Storytelling,

Front 3

Where have features of theatre developed?

Back 3

Prehistoric cave drawing, Storytelling and the oral tradition, costumes and mask, costume and mask, buffallo dance,

Front 4

What is the general consensus on when and where theatre began?

Back 4

there is not enough evidence to make a solid conclusion

Front 5

When and where was theatre first documented?

Back 5

Egyptian Tomb Sclupture, 3500 BCE;
Chinese Dance Drama, 1000 BCE- Theatre in 700 BCE;
India- poetic dialouges in 2000 BCE- theatre in 200 BCE

Front 6

What is the general socio-cultural context in which classical Greek theatre emerged?

Back 6

greeks developed music, dance, storytelling, ritual performances frequently assoc. with religious worship, man and nature/animal

Front 7

Time span of development of Classic Greek Theatre?

Back 7

6th C. BCE: Dithrambs, City Dionysia,
5th C. BCE: Thespis wins festival Dionysus, "Classic era", tragedy
4th C BCE: Menander's 'new comedy'
3rd C. BCE: Professionalized

Front 8

Cultural Values of Classical Greek?

Back 8

Humanism, Justice, Harmony/ Restaint/ Balance/ Unity, beauty, Beauty, Limited Democracy,

Front 9

Humanism

Back 9

"man is the measure of all things" "the unexamined life is not worth living"

Front 10

Justice

Back 10

Repentance/ Restitution for wrong doing, the hero decides where justice is

Front 11

Harmony/ Restraint/ Balance/ Unity

Back 11

The greeks did not judge "natural" behaviors or the pleasures of life, but they condemned excess.

Front 12

Beauty

Back 12

Physical, mental, and spiritual perfection

Front 13

Sacred

Back 13

Festival Theatre; sanctions by church and state, associated with religious and civic duty; Competitive, Male Dominated,

Front 14

Profane

Back 14

Mime; Popular entertainers; 'variety artists': singers, dancers, acrobats, clowns; short satiric skits of every day life; very sexy; very dramatic

Front 15

What are the general features of festival theatre during the Greek classical era?

Back 15

Competitive, Male Dominated;

Front 16

Classic Greek Scenic conventions

Back 16

Theatre spaces :architectural features
Theatre were outdor ampitheatres, built on the side of a hil seates 15,000-17,000 spectators
Used the sun for lighting
Theatron (viewing place) – Audience
Orchestra ( dancing place) –
Thhymele (alter)
Skene (scene building)
Pardos (entrance)
Exodus (exit)

Front 17

Theatron

Back 17

Viewing place

Front 18

Orchestra

Back 18

Dancing place

Front 19

Thymele

Back 19

alter

Front 20

Skene

Back 20

Scene building

Front 21

Parodos

Back 21

Entrance

Front 22

Exodus

Back 22

exit

Front 23

Pinake

Back 23

type of flat used to change setting

Front 24

periaktoi

Back 24

three painted flats hinged together, rotated to change scenes

Front 25

Ekkyklema

Back 25

proto wagon reveal dead body

Front 26

Mechane

Back 26

crane used to lift characters (i.e. dues ex machina)

Front 27

Acting conventions of ancient greece

Back 27

All male, Masked, chours + 3 indivduals, rigorous vocal, physical, and emotional training.

Front 28

Major Architectural features of greek theatre spaces

Back 28

• Theatre were outdor ampitheatres, built on the side of a hil seates 15,000-17,000 spectators
• Used the sun for lighting
• Theatron (viewing place) – Audience
• Orchestra ( dancing place) –
• Thhymele (alter0
• Skene (scene building)
• Pardos (entrance)
• Exodus (exit)

Front 29

3 genres of plays during Greek classical age?

Back 29

Tragedies, Comedies, Satyr Plays

Front 30

General features of Greek tragedy?

Back 30

o Serious action, serious consequences
o Protagonist of particular qualities
• Consequential
• Morally complex
• Commits hamartia/ error
• Caused by hubris
• Suffers reversal, recognition and takes action to make it right
• Evokes pity and terror/ katharsis

Front 31

General Features of Greek Comedy?

Back 31

• Contemporary or fantatic locale
• Topical satirical
• Bawdy
• Frank explicit
• Physical horseplay
• 2 choruses
• happy improbable idea

Front 32

Primary evidence for theatre in this era?

Back 32

• Archietcural remains
• Vase paintings
• Wall paintings
• Verbal:
o Plays
o Fragments
o Written accounts usually from 4th or 3rd century
o Aristotle plato Plutarch
• Visual
o Architechtral remains
o Vase paintings
o Wall paintings
o Sculpture
o Govt. records of the festivals stone monuments, tombstones

Front 33

What is the general socio-cultural context in which Roman theatre practice emerged?

Back 33

Military/ imperialism- expanision to greece greecian theatre influences.

Front 34

The roman theatre timeline?

Back 34

Roman Theatre Timeline
• Republic founded –c. 500 BCE
• Punic wars begin- expansion/ emperialism and encounter with greek culture and theatre- Menander’s ‘new combedy’ 4th century bce.
• Livius Andronicus- thranslates/ adapts greek plays 3rd c. bce
• Plautus abd terence; circus maximus- 2nd. Bce
• Epire founded, Cicero, roscius, Vitruvius- 1st. bce
• Theatres built or remoldedled thru-out the empire. 1st c-
• Seneca, Horace- coliseum -1st c. ce
• Pliny the younger, tacitus, pseutonius- 1st 2nd CE
• Tertullian and st. Augustine- 2nd -4th c. CE
• Roman empire dissolves- c. 400- 500 CE

Front 35

When and Where of Roman Theatre

Back 35

Ludi Romani- festival in honor of jupiter- always competitive

Front 36

Acting Conventions of Roman theatre

Back 36

Stock Characters from Mime/ Farces
• Similar to greek mime, male and female performers. Variety entertainment; low brow


Cariot Racing

Front 37

Dramatic Genres of Roman Theatre

Back 37

Comedy and Tragedy

Front 38

Other popular forms of entertainment in early rome?

Back 38

Pantomime; proto-performance artists, proto-ballet, solo performers: chorus, musiscians, gesture and dance, stories from history, very popular, very high brow.

Front 39

What were the major architectural features of theatre spaces of roman theatres?

Back 39

Builders/ architects and Engineers
• They built to last.
• Coliseum
• Circus maximus
• rome theatre at orange
• still in use today
• coliseum
o Roman theatres were freestanding structures, not built on a hillside necessarily, single architectural unt
o Built in semi circle
o Stage was long and wide and called a pulpitum
o Caveca held up to 25,000- 8,000 spectators
o Fans blowing cool water and huge awnings over audience
o The orchestra was a semi-circle
o Scaene was several stories high and used for storage and dressing space
o Cover roof for stage to protect acts from element
o Scaene frons
o Periacktoi
o Auleum- curtains
o Roman theatre of p,pey
o Qthe theatre of pmpey was prbabaly the largest roman theatre ever constructed.

Front 40

features of roman comedy?

Back 40

• no chorus
• prologue to audience
• stock characters
o henpecked husbands
o old bithch wives
o young attractive ‘girlfriends’
o mooching friends
o braggart soliders
• domestic situations
• music
• father of musical comedy

Front 41

Features of roman tradgedy?

Back 41

Adapted greek tragedies, 5 acts, overt violence, Death and Magic. obcession, passion, revenge.

Front 42

Ideals of Horace?

Back 42

Romes answer to aristotles poetics. theatre is to instruct and please.